Part 1
「Could it be, are you going to save them, Master?」
Rose made a surprised-looking face.
Diablo thought about it.
If there was a town that seemed like it was going to be attacked by Demonic Beings, he wanted to save it. It was not only out of simple sympathy──Protecting the people of the Races from Demonic Beings was the basic story of the MMORPG Cross Reverie.
As a Gamer, he could not ignore that.
However, a Demon King that would rush at full speed to a town that was in a pinch, that was slightly different from his image of Demon Kings.
Diablo snorted.
「Hmph……Something like a town of man, that is of no interest to me. However, the Demon King's Army you say? For them to purport themselves as the Demon King's Army without my permission──I cannot overlook that!」
「I see, to not have notice the reason for Master's anger, this Rose……is extremely embarrassed.」
It seems that he got her to agree.
Rem also made preparations to depart.
「……It isn't for that sort of reason, but I will also go. Hearing that there is a town that seems like it going to be attacked by Demonic Beings, I cannot just leave that alone.」
「Un! We need to help each others out in times of trouble!」
Shera also carried her bow on her back.
Horun clutched her fists.
「I'll go too -ssu! I want to save the people of the town that has always been looking after me -ssu!」
*Gaku gaku* Her knees were trembling. She was extremely terrified.
Lumachina nodded.
「Surely, there is no mistake that us happening to be present is Kami-sama's discretion. I would like to provide my services in order to save the town.」
Rose tilted her head.
「I do not believe that you girls are good enough to be counted as war potential. Wouldn't you all just drag Master down?」
Rem shook her head side to side.
「……The battlefield, it is not a place where you only fight against the enemy. Could it be that you have not experienced an actual battlefield?」
「Mu. That is……because ever since this Rose was created by Master, I have not left this dungeon.」
「……You sure are a fortunate person. Diablo, our preparations are complete. Let's hurry.」
Rem forcibly brought an end to the conversation. There was no rebuttal from Rose.
There was no mistake that it was better if they hurried.
It seemed that she was forming the journey plan in her head.
「……No matter how fast we hurry towards Zircon Tower City, it will take two days. But if our luck is good, I believe that the town will still be safe.」
He did not think that Zircon Tower City, which had no barrier, would be able to hold out against a large army of Demonic Beings.
It is because of that difficulty that the front line of the Races was the Fortress City Faltra.
Diablo restrained Rem who looked like she would head towards the door at any moment.
「Do not be impatient.」
「……Diablo?」
「Taking two days to get there, it would be absolutely impossible to save the town. There is no way we would make it in time.」
「Th……that……might be true but……」
Not just Rem, even the others were speechless.
Horun looked like she was going to cry.
Diablo pulled out an item. It was a feather that emitted a faint white light.
It was an 《Angel's Feather》.
It would transfer the user's entire party to any location.
In the game, so that advanced Players wouldn't be able to take along beginners, there was a specification that it could only transfer the party to a location where all party members have visited. In this other world, how would it work?
To begin with, would it even function?
He had misgivings even when he used 《Return》 before, but the situation of failing and 『being inside of a rock』 was possible. He would be buried alive.
Should he be frank and tell them the danger of it?
There was no meaning to that. After all, even if he were to warn them, these girls would surely say "even so, we'll try it". If they weren't like that, they wouldn't have said anything about trying to save the town from the Demon King's Army in the first place.
And above all, explaining the danger of an item, that wasn't Demon King-like.
Diablo showed the feather to the others.
「This is called an 《Angel's Feather》. It is a treasured article that will transfer everyone here to any location.」
Rem's eyes went round.
「Is, is that……what you used before when you came rushing to Faltra City in an instant from 《Fort Bridge Ulg》……?」
「It is a bit different, but the fact that it is Transfer Magic is the same.」
「……In that case, it looks like it's certain that we will make it in time.」
「If we didn't, there would be no meaning in using it.」
「U, um……」
「What is it?」
「……With that, is it alright, to keep our eyes closed?」
Going *kaa*, Rem got red in the face.
Now that she mentioned it, he remembered how she was scared at the time with the sand ship. It seemed that she was bad with any sort of travel other than her own feet. It was a bit charming.
Shera leaned her body forward.
「Waa, it's that, right!? You're going to use it again!?」
When Diablo tried out transferring before, she experienced it together with him. It seemed that she enjoyed it.
Horun tilted her head.
「What're you talking about -su ka?」
Lumachina didn't even have a doubt. Most likely, she completely believed in Diablo. He felt that that in itself was scary but……
Rose expressed a seemingly lonely smile.
「……Master, this Rose has never gone to another town.」
「Umu.」
「W, will this be……where we say our farewells? I will dream of the day you will come back……I want to wait for you. For however long it will take.」
「Wait. Certainly, you have not visited other places. However, the game's……Ah, no, in that world──Magimatics were not counted as people. If you are counted as a tool in my possession, it may be possible for you to trans……」
After saying that much, he thought "I guess it's cruel to treat her like a tool".
Rose made a face that looked like she was going to cry.
「Master……」
「Ah, uh, sorr……no……」
A Demon King that would apologise to a Magimatic Maid, was no good. However, how should he follow up on that──there was no meaning in him worrying about that.
Rose broadly smiled.
「How fantastic! To be told "counted as a tool" by Master! This Rose, is such a fortunate person!」
「…………Is that, so.」
「Whenever others called this Rose a tool, I would turn them into a stain on 《Asterismos》 but……By all means, Master, please use Rose as a tool for many years to come. Whether it be day or night.」
「Whether it be day or night huh.」
「Ufufu……At night, how would you use me? Nhaa……」
Rose's cheeks dyed red.
──I won't use you in a strange way, you know!?
A Magimatic Maid was a 《tool》. That sense of values meant that she was a bit different from people.
「In any case! There isn't much time! We are going to transfer!」
After coming this far and saying that so self-importantly, if the punchline was something like "the 《Angel's Feather》 could not be used in this other world"──just imagining that, a cold sweat ran down his spine.
Rem held her hand out.
「……Um……Could I have you, hold it?」
「Ah, umu.」
Diablo gripped her hand. It was small, a bit cold, and soft.
Shera grabbed his other hand. She ended up clutching onto the 《Angel's Feather》 together with him.
「And I'll be over here!」
「Wha……!?」
Seeing that, Rose made a disapproving face, but Shera didn't mind it.
「Rose-san, you're Diablo's personal belonging, right? Wouldn't it be fine if he carried you on his back?」
「Ugh……That is……an attractive proposal. However, since this Rose has quite a bit of weight despite this outward appearance……With this.」
Rose pinched Diablo's clothes.
She had the outward appearance of a young lady, but she was a machine. By some chance, she might be heavy like iron.
Or maybe, the weight of the gigantic hand that appears at her back and her double headed sword are included.
If that were the case, it seemed like it would be harsh to carry on one's back even for the level 150 Diablo.
Lumachina and Horun also joined hands, and the five of them created a circle. That and one machine.
In the game, there was no need to create a circle like this.
However, if it is like this, without a doubt, no matter how or where anyone looked at them, Diablo and the others were definitely a party.
With the gist of when he used magic, he concentrated his consciousness on the 《Angel's Feather》.
──Transfer us! To Zircon Tower!!
The tower of precious stone came to his mind.
======
Part 2
There is probably no need to say this, but the transfer was a success.
They gathered information at Zircon Tower City, and with Rem and the others using a sand ship──Diablo headed to the battlefront with Flight Magic.
By the time he arrived, the hostilities had already opened.
Moreover, the armed forces of the Races was on the verge of annihilation.
Several of the sand ships had fallen into a tear that seemed to have been created with magic, and they were only raising screams from the Demon King Army’s assault and were unable to make an organized resistance.
Diablo looked down from the sky, and used magic.
「《Lightning Meteor》!!」
Countless thunderbolts burned away the Demon King Army’s assault force. When they were crowded together, the effect was huge.
In places where it turned into a melee, magic was hard to use.
In the game, damage would be given only to enemies, but in this other world, he would end up blowing them away with magic regardless of whether they were friend or foe.
「I suppose I’ll leave that area to them.」
A Summoned Beast clad in a white aura charged in.
It was a gigantic, three-horned bull. Due to the summoner’s equipment, it had been drastically strengthened.
「Go forth, 《Aslau》!!」
Rem shouted.
It hurled itself at Demonic Beings within the melee.
「Gohah!?」
One with a lion head and large build was sent flying. With only that, there wasn’t enough damage done to kill it, but the fact that this was a melee meant that there was a great number of soldiers of the Races around.
Against the Demonic Being that fell over onto the ground, they swung their swords and axes down as if they were plowing the fields with a hoe.
「Gah!? You, bashtards! Even, though, you, jusht, weak, Humans……!?」
「That’s right, we are weak Humans! That’s why we’re ganging up on a collapsed Demonic Being with a large number of people like this!」
「Ah……gah……sto……!?」
Due to a blow that smashed its head, the figure of the lion-headed Demonic Being changed into countless particles of light.
When Demonic Beings and Demonic Beasts die, they turn into light and vanish.
This was their difference from wild animals.
Rem shouted.
「Next! A bear-looking Demonic Being is coming!」
「「「Understood!」」」
The soldiers replied.
She was an Adventurer that suddenly appeared, and moreover, she was a Pantherian woman but……Due to her precise decisions and instructions, the surrounding soldiers naturally settled down under her command.
Every time she raised the war results, the number of soldiers that obeyed her actions increased.
The existence of the strengthened Summoned Beast that could give a hard blow to even large sized Demonic Beings, and the several MP Recovery Potions that she carried were big factors.
Within the front line that was filled with chaos, Rem’s surroundings regained control despite that.
From the sky, a Demonic Beast that looked like a carnivorous bird came falling down. The breadth of its opened wings was close to about 10 meters.
「Kishaaaaaaaah!!」
「Here’s a 《Triangle Shoot》!!」
A high-pitched voice of a young lady resounded.
Three arrows were fired at almost the same time.
Moreover, all of them were 《Squall Arrows》 that could penetrate the Demonic Beast’s powerful Physical Defense.
If damage was made, there was the possibility of 《Petrification》. Moreover, since there were three shots, the chance of it happening also happened three times.
The gigantic Demonic Beast quickly turned into a stone statue.
It fell down, and smashed into pieces.
It turned into light.
Shera had attacked using special arrows.
She moved about on top of the sand ship sails as if they were trees of a forest──With her outstanding skill and the strongest bow and arrows, she brought down the atrocious Demonic Beast.
Moreover, her figure was beautiful to the point of being divine.
The soldiers that were rescued from the dilemma spread rumors that they were “saved by a Goddess”.
From the back, a large number of soldiers came rushing in as reinforcements.
「Oi, we’ll lend ya our strength!」
「That really helps! Wait, you!? Weren’t you injured and brought to the back earlier……!?」
「Hear this and be surprised! Amazingly, we were able to be healed by the High Chief Priest-sama!」
「A huge injury like that was healed!? That’s incredible!」
The Healing Miracles didn’t only bring injured soldiers back to the battle.
It gave the soldiers a sense of security saying that “even if they injured, they can get healed”.
In Zircon Tower City, the chapel was closed down, and distrust of the Church had spread due to the expectation of large donations but……
Even so, to many of the soldiers, religion was a pillar of spiritual support.
The most prominent person of the Church──The High Chief Priest had come running to their aid. There was no reassuring support greater than this.
Their fear against the Demon King’s Army faded, and the increase in war potential due to the reinforcements recovered the situation in the local area.
In only one spot, there was a strange place.
The Demon King Army forces that existed there suddenly disappeared.
Anything that could be called a battle did not occur.
Demonic Beings and Demonic Beasts had their corpses turn into light and vanished. Because of that, not even traces of a phenomenon remained.
A young lady was loitering there.
She was a young lady that wore an outfit that seemed to be a maid uniform that had her back largely open and exposed.
The one that had her emerald eyes looking up at the sky was the Magimatic Maid Rose.
「Ahh, Master……How can you be so wonderful! That great figure of you lording over the land and raining down thunderbolts, truly a Demon King! All of you fools that crawl on the ground, look up! That is a Demon King! He is this Rose’s Master!」
「What……this woman? Small, look weak……want eat……」
A Demonic Being possessing an amphibian head approached.
There were also about three other Demonic Beings there. As if it were making a collection of them, they hung several heads of the people of the Races that they killed from their waists.
If she were a normal young lady, it wouldn’t be strange for her to raise a scream.
However, being hindered as she was gloating, Rose made a plainly displeased face.
「How could you be such a foolish frog? To interrupt as this Rose was giving praise to Master──」
A thick tongue stretched out from the amphibian Demonic Being’s mouth.
In an instant, Rose was wrapped up by the tongue, and had her movements sealed.
「This girl, eat!」
「What will you do about this? A Demonic Being’s vulgar stench has gotten on the Western clothes that I received from Master. Only you, I will not kill in an instant, understand? 《Asterismos》!」
At Rose’s back, a gigantic double-headed sword appeared.
The Demonic Beings were frightened and stiffened up──such a thing didn’t happen. At times of battle, Demonic Beings, without hesitating, without faltering, would not stay idle.
A double-headed sword that appeared, and a mechanized hand that handled it. Against that, the four Demonic Beings made a counterattack.
Rose sneered.
「Fufufu……Ahahaha! So you mean to challenge this Rose with such poor abilities!? Against Demonic Beings whose bodies are only big and brains are lacking, I shall teach you about what true fear is. Now then, go and die! 《Didymoi》, 《Karkinos》, 《Leon》, 《Parthenos》!!」[1]
As if she were singing, she announced the constellations.
As if to trace the locations of the stars, the gigantic double-headed sword chopped up the air.
It cut the skin of the Demonic Beings that would not let the weapons of the Races go through, severed their flesh, and smashed their bones. They were unable to chase after her sword slashes with their eyes which should be able to see even a bullet fly. They possessed bodies that would regenerate limbs even if they were cut or torn off, but they ended up turning into particles of light before that ability could be exhibited.
In this place, anything that could be called a battle did not occur. Only cleaning done by the Magimatic Maid Rose had taken place.
Against her, who could overwhelm even a Huge-class Dragon, a means for lower grade Demonic Beings to oppose her did not exist.
In that place where, once again, nothing was there, Rose breathed a sigh.
「Ahh, what has this Rose done……Even though I intended to punish it, once again, I killed them in an instant. Oh dear, since I am little miss clumsy……With things like this, Master will be exasperated with me.」
Translator’s Notes:
[1] Greek names for the constellations Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo.